RESN&GB4x4 Trips: Inyo Range Reconnoitering: Badger Flat, Papoose Flat, Mazourka Pass, Badger Flat, Mazourka Canyon

RECONNOITERING IN THE EASTERN SIERRA NEVADA & GREAT BASIN
BY 4-WHEEL-DRIVE
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RESN&GB4x4 Trips:

Inyo Range Reconnoitering:

Badger Flat, Papoose Flat, Mazourka Pass, Badger Flat, Mazourka Canyon

June 27, 2003

It's a Friday in the early summer of 2003. My 2002 Toyota Tacoma TRD 4WD pickup just had just completed its first year in my ownership and I needed to get it dirty and explore. My wife wanted to get out of the house and have a picnic lunch up in the mountains somewhere, our two dogs needed some recreation and new sagebrush to sniff.

I had always wanted to see the Papoose Flat country atop the Inyo Range. But unfounded whisperings that the road was too rugged for my former truck – my 1996 Chevrolet S-10 4WD pickup – kept me from attempting to make a run into the Inyos. But now I had my 2002 Toyota Tacoma, with its off road package and rear locking differential, and I was ready to tackle my fears and the mildly overrated roads that covered the eventual path that we took.

The route we took us east from our home, then at Big Pine, California; over the Big Pine to Death Valley road to the turnoff to Harkless Flat, wherein we drove through the flat and up a trail that climbed straight up the mountainside and connected with the main road to Papoose Flat – Inyo National Forest route 9S15 – then over that road to and through Papoose Flat. We continued south, a bit east, then crossed over Mazourka Pass and down into Badger Flat. We sidetracked over Inyo National Forest route 11S01 to the summit of Mazourka Peak, then drove down Mazourka Canyon via Inyo National Forest route 11S05, which ties into Mazourka Canyon Road and over to the town of Independence on US395; then the quick leg home north again to Big Pine.

This route is described in Roger Mitchell's book, “INYO-MONO SUV TRAILS: A GUIDE TO 40 INTERSTING AND SCENIC FOUR-WHEELING EXCURISIIONS IN INYO & MONO COUNTIES”, on pages 193-199; chapter entitled “TRAILS OUT OF BIG PINE: TOP OF THE INYOS”.¹

Instead of writing an entire story, I will base this page on my transcribed verbal notes that I made on microcassette that day while taking this trip. Any explanation or updates to what I saw or experienced that day will be explained in footnotes. Just click on the hyperlinked number next to the footnote after you've read it and your browser will return you to where you left off.

The route we took is for the most part shown on the Inyo National Forest map, with exception of the climb out of Harkless Flat and to where the trail joins the main route to Papoose Flat, Inyo National Forest 9S15. Topo maps needed to cover the dirt road portion of our route are:

Cowhorn Valley, CA (northern start of the road into Harkless Flat from the Big Pine to Death Valley road).
Waucoba Mountain, CA (upper portion of the climb from Harkless Flat, the main road to Papoose Flat, Papoose Flat, the start of the route up to Mazourka Pass).
Tinemaha Reservoir (Harkless Flat)
Mazourka Peak, CA (Mazourka Pass, Badger Flat, Mazourka Peak, Mazourka Canyon).
Bee Springs Canyon, CA (lower Mazourka Canyon to start of pavement on Mazourka Canyon Road).

Herein is the day trip that my wife and I took on June 27, 2003.

Travel Transcript

TT06.27.2003

(June 27, 2003)

Inyo Range - Harkless Flat, Papoose Flat, Mazourka Pass, Badger Flat, Mazourka Canyon

	1) [Ambient driving noise] Today is Friday, June 27, 2003. It’s a couple of minutes after eight. I’m going to head out on a little trip up to Harkless, Papoose, possibly down to Badger Flat and down Mazourka Canyon road. 2) [Ambient driving noise] Ana ² and the dogs ³ are with me. 3) [Ambient driving noise] Traveling up the Big Pine to Death Valley road … oops! Here comes a truck. Kind of a construction truck. Water truck. Anyway, coming up this road, the flowers are coming back into bloom as we gain elevation. Primarily now the prince’s plume and the roadside daisies here.
	4) [Ambient driving noise] 11.9 [miles]. Turning south onto Harkless Flat road. 5) [Ambient driving noise] 2.8 miles from the highway ⁴. I’m passing through Harkless Flat. Which is a sloping … northward sloping, open area. Relatively smooth. Sagebrush predominate. Some small juniper here and there. Piñon on the slopes to the south. Devoid of vegetation on the slopes to the north. Nice views of the Sierra in here. 6) [Ambient driving noise] Entering the piñon forest at 3.4 miles. Still in Harkless Flat. All the younger trees appear to be on the verge of dying. Like they’re drying out. The bigger trees still appear healthy. But the small trees, the ones about six or seven foot tall and less, what needles they have appear to be drying out.
	7) [Ambient driving noise] Ana spotted some blooming cactus at 3.8 miles. 8) [Ambient driving noise] Saw some beavertail down in Harkless Flat, but they didn’t appear to be blooming or even about to bloom. Probably past their prime. Didn’t have fruits on top. 9) [Ambient driving noise] At 5.2 miles, the road is climbing out that gully as stated in the Mitchell book. Inyo and Mono SUV trails. And it’s getting pretty steep now. Fairly loose.
	10) [Ambient driving noise] At 6.2 miles the uh road comes to a knoll or a crest. Not really a crest. A little mountain top is more like it. And uh a nice Sierra view. The valley floor is seen northward um … from Big Pine and north. It’s really pretty. You can see up the White Mountains, the remainder of the Inyo Mountains. You can see where the Big Pine and Death Valley road tops the summit and starts over into Joshua Flat. You can see the mountain ranges to the east. The Sylvania Mountains. Farther over. Um … you might be able to see Magruder ⁵, I’m not sure. It doesn’t appear quite high enough.
	11) [Ambient driving noise] Checking the SUV book. Kind of confused as to whether I’ve taken the right way or not. But I’ll continue ahead and … the main goal now is the intersection of uh … another forest road, 9S something 15. 12) [Ambient driving noise] The road into Harkless Flat is 13. 13) [Ambient driving noise] Yeah, 9S14 is the road to Papoose Flat. This road that we’re on will take us over to 9S15 and over to Papoose Flat. The steep incline I spoke of earlier and climbed seemed to follow the book, but I … passed that Sierra viewpoint, he was talking about, I think. Sounds like it was in the first four or five miles. ⁶ 14) [Ambient driving noise] Ok. At 6.5 miles, I’ve reached 9S15. So I missed that first Sierra view and came to a second. There’s a sign here indicating this is 9S15 and another sign indicating Papoose Flat one way and Harkless Flat the other.

15) [Ambient driving noise] At 7.0 miles from the highway, the road heads up to the uh … looks like be to an overlook. I’m going to take it. It heads to the west. It’s also 18.9 miles from home.

16) [Ambient driving noise] It kind of dead ends up in here. Not really any views. There’s another road that heads off to the south. But I’m going to go on down to the Papoose Flat road.

17) [Ambient driving noise] 7.6 [miles]. Back to the Papoose Flat road. 9S15.

18) [Ambient driving noise] Lupine is also blooming in all these higher locations. Along with some yellow flowers and some occasional buttercup like flowers.

19) [Ambient driving noise] 7.8 miles. Another junction is reached. The road splits off and turns into a wye and goes off two different directions. Looks like they might lead to good views.

20) [Ambient driving noise] The Mitchell book mentions a Forest Service weather station, and looks like one on the hilltop. So I’m going to try and see if we can reach that. He mentions good camp sites. He doesn’t mention any view, but there might be one up there.

21) [Ambient driving noise] At 8.5 the road splits again. Neither one looks like it goes up to uh … what could be a weather service thing. It’s like a tower with three crossbars.

22) [Ambient driving noise] Couple tenths of a mile on the right fork, it just dead ends. Uh … it appears to end. It might go on a little farther, but … here’s a pile of rocks in the middle, like somebody made a fire ring. [Ana: “Here’s another one.”] Yeah, there’s another one, too. It’s fairly heavy forest in here of mountain mahogany and piñon.

23) [Ambient driving noise] 8.7 [miles]. Back at the uh … little wye there. I’m going to go up what was the left fork, which is continuing south.

24) [Ambient driving noise] 8.9 [miles]. The road dead ends here on a … in a uh … just in the forest here. Where it goes into another drainage. The uh … what I thought was the Forest Service weather station appears to be just simply … uh … something erected. It leans at a crazy angle, which you don’t see from the other perspective. And there doesn’t appear to be any instruments on it.

25) [Ambient driving noise] 9.8 [miles]. Back to 9S15. I’m not going to explore that southern leg of the road … er northern leg. That took off there right away, when you turn off 9S15. Looks like it goes through a flat and dead ends over in a forest. On the rim.

26) [Ambient driving noise] Somebody has been on 9S15 with a bicycle. I see a couple of bicycle tracks here.

	27) [Ambient driving noise] At 13.0 [miles] the road forks again. One road looks like it might go up to a Sierra viewpoint. But it looks like Papoose Flat is directly ahead. 28) [Ambient driving noise] I duplicated Mitchell’s photo on page 190 in his Inyo and Mono SUV trails book. At 13.3 [miles], we’re in the heart of Papoose Flat. 29) [Ambient driving noise] From Papoose Flat you can get a glimpse of the repeaters up on Mazourka Peak. And it certainly doesn’t look very far away. I always thought it was a considerable distance between Badger Flat and Papoose Flat, but it looks like it will be a relatively short distance. 30) [Ambient driving noise] At 14.2 [miles] there’s a road that takes off. Looks like a short distance between the junction, main junction, of the road heading over to Badger Flat and the road heading back and over to Marble Canyon. 31) [Ambient driving noise] Ok, the road at this thing … uh … dead ends. Looks like it uh … no. It just goes over there. I’m trying to find the deer hunter’s camp, it mentioned. And this sign says that it’s “Men-ah No-cahga-na,” [spelling]. And underneath, it’s translated “Don’t Steal.” And under that, it says, native Americans have traveled to … well, I’ll read it up closer. 32) Ok. The sign says: “MEN-AH NO-CAHGA-NA. DON’T STEAL. Native Americans have traveled to Tovo-wa-ha (Inyo/White Mountains) for thousands of years to gather tuva (pinyon nuts) and hunt game. The Owens Valley Paiute occupied Papoose Flat into the 1930s, using the food gathered here for winter survival. And evidence of this occupation remains today. Federal and State law protect these sites and artifacts. This road has been closed to prevent further destruction. No vehicles below this point.”
	33) [Ambient driving noise] I’m going to backtrack. I saw another road heading over. Maybe it has a nice picnic spot. 34) [Ambient driving noise] This other road I’m traveling uh … looks like we’re going to get to a point a couple hundred, 300 yards from that sign. And maybe an overlook. It’s … coming the direction that I wanted to come to in the first place. I’m looking at Mazourka Peak and its repeaters. It looks like it’s only a mile and a half or two miles away. But probably further. But definitely the distance between Papoose and Badger isn’t very far at all. 35) [Ambient driving noise] 15.4 [miles]. There’s a couple of old piñon logs cutting the road off. The road looks like it ends only a short distance ahead. [To Ana:] – I’m going to walk up there, Babe. -- [Ana: “Ok.”] 36) These are very old logs. I don’t know when they were put here. The road is relatively rocky in here too. But … there might have been a uh … tree cut down and left across the road. 37) There’s been recent tracks on here, so, somebody has moved the tree. And continued on. 38) At 15.5 [miles]. We’re at the end of the road. It’s a little closed in because of the forest. But there’s a nice spot here. We can see a little bit to the north. You can see the valley floor to the west. 39) A number of tent sites bordered with rock. And uh fire rings. A little bit of firewood stacked. 40) Standing on a rocky outcropping a short distance from the truck. I got a nice sweep of uh … oh, approximately 150°. Looking down on the Owens Valley. I’m looking down directly on that large lava flow, a little south of Tinemaha dam. I can see clearly the road that comes up that lava flow that angles northeast. And then it comes up into a canyon, between another lava flow. And it comes into the canyon, seemingly at my feet. And then it turns off and then goes into a side canyon that I can’t see. Looking down, you can see where the railroad crossing crosses the river. On the Tinemaha bypass. And uh you can … I can’t really make out … but part of the C&C grade. ⁷ You can see where Aberdeen Station … er road crosses … pretty well. I can see the community of Aberdeen down there. And you can see the intake of the aqueduct. I can’t see Independence, but I can see Oak Creek Road. Mount Williamson ⁸. And a little south of Williamson. Looking north, I can see up into the Glass Mountain country ⁹. Beautiful view. Similar to what you see on Mazourka Peak.
	41) [Ambient driving noise] It was at 15.5 [miles] where we stopped and ate. 15.5 [miles] from the Big Pine and Death Valley Road. Leaving now. I’m going to change tape. [End of tape] [New tape] 42) [Ambient driving noise] It’s uh … June 27, 2003. It’s a Friday. It’s 12:15 [PM]. We’re up on top of the Inyo Range by Papoose Flat. A strange thing happened. I just went to turn over the tape from the A side to the B side on another microcassette tape, and uh re-wound it, and the leader had disconnected from the spool. So, I hope I can salvage it by breaking it open and reattaching the leader to the spool, so I can rewind it and transcribe the A side. Otherwise, I’ve lost the entries from the past month or so. Including, probably the latter half of the Silver Peak trip with John McCulloch. We came up through Harkless Flat. Following the guidelines of the Mitchell Inyo and Mono SUV trails book. We came up here and had lunch on an overlook above Papoose Flat. We’re going to head now to Mazourka Peak. If it isn’t too scary. I have Ana and the dogs with me. And that portion between Papoose and Badger Flat is supposed to be the most grueling along here. So we’re going to leave here, at 12:16. And head southward. If we don’t make it, I’m going to come back to Papoose Flat, and take the road that runs along the east side of Andrews Mountain, through the upper part of Marble Canyon, then down to the Big Pine and Death Valley road. 43) [Ambient driving noise] 16.8 [miles]. I’m at a junction. Where the road … heads east into Papoose Flat and over to Andrews Mountain. And ahead to Badger Flat.

27) [Ambient driving noise] At 13.0 [miles] the road forks again. One road looks like it might go up to a Sierra viewpoint. But it looks like Papoose Flat is directly ahead.

28) [Ambient driving noise] I duplicated Mitchell’s photo on page 190 in his Inyo and Mono SUV trails book. At 13.3 [miles], we’re in the heart of Papoose Flat.

29) [Ambient driving noise] From Papoose Flat you can get a glimpse of the repeaters up on Mazourka Peak. And it certainly doesn’t look very far away. I always thought it was a considerable distance between Badger Flat and Papoose Flat, but it looks like it will be a relatively short distance.

30) [Ambient driving noise] At 14.2 [miles] there’s a road that takes off. Looks like a short distance between the junction, main junction, of the road heading over to Badger Flat and the road heading back and over to Marble Canyon.

31) [Ambient driving noise] Ok, the road at this thing … uh … dead ends. Looks like it uh … no. It just goes over there. I’m trying to find the deer hunter’s camp, it mentioned. And this sign says that it’s “Men-ah No-cahga-na,” [spelling]. And underneath, it’s translated “Don’t Steal.” And under that, it says, native Americans have traveled to … well, I’ll read it up closer.

32) Ok. The sign says:

“MEN-AH NO-CAHGA-NA.

DON’T STEAL.

Native Americans have traveled to Tovo-wa-ha (Inyo/White Mountains) for thousands of years to gather tuva (pinyon nuts) and hunt game. The Owens Valley Paiute occupied Papoose Flat into the 1930s, using the food gathered here for winter survival. And evidence of this occupation remains today.

Federal and State law protect these sites and artifacts. This road has been closed to prevent further destruction.

No vehicles below this point.”

33) [Ambient driving noise] I’m going to backtrack. I saw another road heading over. Maybe it has a nice picnic spot.

34) [Ambient driving noise] This other road I’m traveling uh … looks like we’re going to get to a point a couple hundred, 300 yards from that sign. And maybe an overlook. It’s … coming the direction that I wanted to come to in the first place. I’m looking at Mazourka Peak and its repeaters. It looks like it’s only a mile and a half or two miles away. But probably further. But definitely the distance between Papoose and Badger isn’t very far at all.

35) [Ambient driving noise] 15.4 [miles]. There’s a couple of old piñon logs cutting the road off. The road looks like it ends only a short distance ahead. [To Ana:] – I’m going to walk up there, Babe. -- [Ana: “Ok.”]

36) These are very old logs. I don’t know when they were put here. The road is relatively rocky in here too. But … there might have been a uh … tree cut down and left across the road.

37) There’s been recent tracks on here, so, somebody has moved the tree. And continued on.

38) At 15.5 [miles]. We’re at the end of the road. It’s a little closed in because of the forest. But there’s a nice spot here. We can see a little bit to the north. You can see the valley floor to the west.

39) A number of tent sites bordered with rock. And uh fire rings. A little bit of firewood stacked.

40) Standing on a rocky outcropping a short distance from the truck. I got a nice sweep of uh … oh, approximately 150°. Looking down on the Owens Valley. I’m looking down directly on that large lava flow, a little south of Tinemaha dam. I can see clearly the road that comes up that lava flow that angles northeast. And then it comes up into a canyon, between another lava flow. And it comes into the canyon, seemingly at my feet. And then it turns off and then goes into a side canyon that I can’t see. Looking down, you can see where the railroad crossing crosses the river. On the Tinemaha bypass. And uh you can … I can’t really make out … but part of the C&C grade. ⁷ You can see where Aberdeen Station … er road crosses … pretty well. I can see the community of Aberdeen down there. And you can see the intake of the aqueduct. I can’t see Independence, but I can see Oak Creek Road. Mount Williamson ⁸. And a little south of Williamson. Looking north, I can see up into the Glass Mountain country ⁹. Beautiful view. Similar to what you see on Mazourka Peak.

41) [Ambient driving noise] It was at 15.5 [miles] where we stopped and ate. 15.5 [miles] from the Big Pine and Death Valley Road. Leaving now. I’m going to change tape.

[End of tape]

[New tape]

42) [Ambient driving noise] It’s uh … June 27, 2003. It’s a Friday. It’s 12:15 [PM]. We’re up on top of the Inyo Range by Papoose Flat. A strange thing happened. I just went to turn over the tape from the A side to the B side on another microcassette tape, and uh re-wound it, and the leader had disconnected from the spool. So, I hope I can salvage it by breaking it open and reattaching the leader to the spool, so I can rewind it and transcribe the A side. Otherwise, I’ve lost the entries from the past month or so. Including, probably the latter half of the Silver Peak trip with John McCulloch. We came up through Harkless Flat. Following the guidelines of the Mitchell Inyo and Mono SUV trails book. We came up here and had lunch on an overlook above Papoose Flat. We’re going to head now to Mazourka Peak. If it isn’t too scary. I have Ana and the dogs with me. And that portion between Papoose and Badger Flat is supposed to be the most grueling along here. So we’re going to leave here, at 12:16. And head southward. If we don’t make it, I’m going to come back to Papoose Flat, and take the road that runs along the east side of Andrews Mountain, through the upper part of Marble Canyon, then down to the Big Pine and Death Valley road.

43) [Ambient driving noise] 16.8 [miles]. I’m at a junction. Where the road … heads east into Papoose Flat and over to Andrews Mountain. And ahead to Badger Flat.

44) [Ambient driving noise] It seems like uh … it’s kind of hard to tell what Mitchell is talking about in some cases. Sometimes his book doesn’t seem to follow what is here on the ground. This road to Badger Flat is mentioned as being quite a ways past Papoose Flat. So I don’t know if I’m on the right road. If this is still 9S15 straight ahead. And that other road may just simply go into Papoose Flat and peter out somewhere. So I’m continuing ahead. The book doesn’t say anything about turning sharply to the left. To continue around the Andrews Mountain way. That road to the east had a signpost at one time, but it’s gone.

45) [Ambient driving noise] Ephedra or Mormon tea is blooming up at these elevations.

46) [Ambient driving noise] As soon as you leave Papoose Flat the road deteriorates. And uh … I see it starts to switchback up the side of the mountain here.

47) [Ambient driving noise] Looks like it was bladed out of the side of the slope here at one time. It’s just rocky and loose. And steep.

48) [Ambient driving noise] As we’re bouncing our way up the rocky trail here, climbing out of Papoose Flat, Ana says it’s not a good time to be doing her crocheting right now. Which she was doing. It’s not a good time to be crocheting right now, or she’ll be crocheting her lip.

49) [Ambient driving noise] It’s about 17.6 [miles]. There is a little camp spot. On a little flat. Overlooking Papoose Flat.

50) [Ambient driving noise] At 17.8 miles from the Big Pine and Death Valley road. A junction is reached. Mitchell doesn’t mention anything about it. But uh I just came in on the uh … what appears to be the better of the two roads. And it just dead ends promptly in a camp spot. In a small divide. Um … the road that branched to the left, which is the main road. It immediately begins climbing a short stretch. A steep stretch.

51) [Ambient driving noise] Prospect cut is encountered part way up that climb.

52) [Ambient driving noise] Climbing this ridge, it’s obvious that the Mazourka Peak towers are only about a mile or so away.

53) [Ambient driving noise] The road up Mazourka Peak from Badger Flat pretty discernible.

54) [Ambient driving noise] At 18.0 [miles], we do have a pretty rocky climb.

55) [Ambient driving noise] Had Ana take some video of me coming up that stretch. Very rocky. Lot of angled, protruding rocks. Flat on one side, sharp precipice on the other. Sticking up three to six inches. Around that corner is a bad spot there, where a tree root there has been exposed … [Ana: “I think I’m still recording.”] … showing a lot.

56) [Ambient driving noise] I started to mention before, that route is quite a stair step up. Uh … and there’s a deep pocket just before it. I think anything, even my truck, will hang up on its undercarriage there. Definitely a place for a locker. But fortunately the road is wide enough there that you can make the turn around it. You’d still catch the root, but not in that deep pocket.

57) [Ambient driving noise] I’m starting to see limber pine nearby on a peak. Just behind a smaller ridge in front of me. Probably a mile away. Limber pine is mentioned in Mitchell as being in this segment.

58) [Ambient driving noise] A steep and loose section at 18.5 [miles].

59) [Ambient driving noise] A short, steep climb. Turns south again and begins an off camber traverse.

60) [Ambient driving noise] Still steep, loose and rocky.

61) [Ambient driving noise] At 18.7[miles], you kind of top off into a little flat in here. And the limber pines are growing a short distance away.

62) [Ambient driving noise] In this little flat, you can see a road continuing up a bald ridge. Um … and it uh … I believe that would be the road to Side Hill Spring and beyond that Mitchell mentions. That is also closed by the Wilderness Protection Act.

63) [Ambient driving noise] The road through this little flat is good … oh! Here comes a vehicle coming down at me. [Ana: “Oh!”]

64) [Ambient driving noise] Looks like a Land Rover Discovery coming down.

65) [Ambient driving noise] Couple of young people. Two men.

66) [Ambient driving noise] Sharp bedrock sticking up eight inches to a foot. At 19.1 [miles] and climbing up to a small knoll. And over its summit. The road drops down into another small flat. And a gulch that continues on up. Probably the Side Hill Spring road.

67) [Ambient driving noise] The road across that stretch will be skirting the limber pine.

68) [Ambient driving noise] 19.3 [miles]. Limber pine on the side of the road.

69) [Ambient driving noise] 19.7 [miles]. The road is still crossing the flat. There’s kind of like a slow climb through the flat. But then you drop into some real grassy areas with a lot of silt in the road. The kind that explodes when you pass through it, making you choke on it. Beautiful view ahead as we’re traveling eastward. Limber pine still on the sides. Lot of mountain mahogany and limber pine.

70) [Ambient driving noise] The road leaves that flat at 20.0 from the highway. Drops into another valley. You can see the road going out the other side. And the road heading to Side Hill Spring. I think. Yeah, looks like there’s a fence across it. It’s a good road. Goes up to that bald ridge and beyond. Or it stops up there somewhere.

71) [Ambient driving noise] Another alkali bowl, churning through it as you drop into that valley at 20.3. It’s kind of weird. There’s a lot of low flying gnats swarming down in the silt. I didn’t notice them before that. But in the silty areas, they’re flying, just hoards of them, all along the roadway here.

72) [Ambient driving noise] Ok. The road to Side Hill Spring is at 20.4 [miles]. The road on over to Mazourka takes off here. It shows a sign here, a post. It says that the road is open to horses and hiking. Closed to motor vehicles. And motorized equipment. National Forest wilderness boundary.

73) [Ambient driving noise] A pile of wood covered with a green tarp for some reason. Here at the junction.

74) [Ambient driving noise] It’s 1:43[PM] and continuing up from the Side Hill Spring road.

75) [Ambient driving noise] This climb from the Side Hill Spring road up to Mazourka Pass ¹⁰ is uh … fairly steep. Little bit on the loose side, but nothing major. No major rock outcrops. So far.

76) [Ambient driving noise] Mazourka Pass at 21.0 [miles]. From the Big Pine to Death Valley road. A beautiful view from up here at the pass. It’s twelve minutes until two.

77) Badger Flat is about a mile away. Mazourka Peak is not too much farther than that. The Sierra skyline can be seen down about to Mount Williamson. Some cumulus clouds are starting to form over the crest. Mainly behind Independence and a few farther south. A few little ones north. Can’t see up north too well, but you can look north along the mountains to the White Mountains and White Mountain Peak.

78) The camcorder battery is annoying. First it’s showing that I have 93 minutes left, then it goes to zero and giving me the battery depleted symbol.

79) [Ambient driving noise] Had a little fright there on top of Mazourka Pass. Put it in gear, wasn’t going anywhere. I put it in reverse and wasn’t going anywhere. Thought I dropped my driveshaft or lost my clutch. But apparently when the dogs jumped out, one of them knocked the transfer case lever into neutral.

	80) [Ambient driving noise] Just passed Mazourka Pass, at 21.2 [miles], the road gets gnarly and off camber. Goes through heavy bedrock. Looks like it climbs another hill ahead of us here. Instead of going down to Badger Flat.

81) [Ambient driving noise] Another fifteen foot heavy bedrock stretch. At 21.5 [miles].

82) [Ambient driving noise] There’s a pretty nice view northward of the White Mountains. And you can see Pellissier Flat also.

83) [Ambient driving noise] Looks like the road has topped out and is beginning to descend. It’s going due west right now. Maybe a little north of west.

84) [Ambient driving noise] At 21.8 [miles] the view to the south opens up. And the broad expanse of Owens Lake is seen. Looking down along the Inyo crest to Mount Inyo.

85) [Ambient driving noise] The area in here is slow going. Just picking your way through rough bedrock.

86) [Ambient driving noise] One spot here at 21.9 [miles], you have to straddle a high bedrock ridge that goes down the middle of the road. That would probably stop my Chevy S-10, but had no problems with this Toyota. With the rock sticking up directly underneath.

87) [Ambient driving noise] A spot at 22.0 [miles] where the road makes a sharp left as we proceed south. And uh … little bit of a chassis flexer with bedrock. It tops a sharp summit and drops straight ahead. But there’s a road going off to the left, which creates a little bit of confusion.

88) [Ambient driving noise] Some of these rocks in here could be sidewall slicers. Really sharp. Definitely recommend good tires. I’m still running the OEM rubber here on the Toyota ¹¹. I’d feel much more comfortable with B.F. Goodrich All Terrain T/As.

89) [Ambient driving noise] At 22.2 [miles] the road becomes a little better and starts descending. Looks like I’m going to start descend into Badger Flat. There’s still some bedrock, but some areas that the road is almost smooth.

90) [Ambient driving noise] At 22.6 [miles] a steep downhill is reached. There looks like there’s a loop to the right. Which in itself is pretty rocky. Straight ahead looks worse. Especially going down.

91) [Ambient driving noise] The left track, or the right one coming up, would definitely deter uphill traffic. With a locker you could probably do it. The bypass is much better, but not exactly smooth.

92) [Ambient driving noise] 22.7 [miles]. Pretty much the bottom of the hill. Passing a mine claim. Should be passing the claim that I got photos of Graham C. and John McCulloch ¹² at. Ok. A “T” intersection. That’s what it is. It’s not a mine claim. Sign I’m looking at.

93) [Ambient driving noise] Yeah, the sign says Papoose Flat and it’s four-wheel-drive only. Now we’re turning right at this intersection. I believe this will take us over to the mine that Graham, John and I were at.

94) [Ambient driving noise] Yeah, the mine that we were at is passed at 22.8 [miles].

95) [Ambient driving noise] 23.0 [miles]. At that horse corral.

96) [Ambient driving noise] Ok. At 23.3 [miles], we’re on 11S01. The Mazourka Canyon road. And we’re going to head up to Mazourka Peak.

	97) At 25.2 and quarter until three, we’re up on top of Mazourka Peak.
	98) [Ambient driving noise] At five until three, we’re heading on down to Independence. 99) [Ambient driving noise] From Mazourka Peak you can look right down into Santa Rosa Flat. Make that Papoose Flat. It doesn’t look very far away. You can see the road that I tried to take originally, the one with the sign that it was on Indian lands. And then the road that we took to stop for lunch. That with the naked eye. 100) [Ambient driving noise] 41.6 miles from the Big Pine to Death Valley road. Hitting the pavement on Mazourka Canyon Road. 101) [Ambient driving noise] It’s also 3:53 [PM]. 102) [Ambient driving noise] 46.0 [miles]. Mazourka Canyon Road and US395. Turning north into Independence. 103) [Ambient driving noise] Four minutes after four. Leaving Mairs Market and heading northbound.

97) At 25.2 and quarter until three, we’re up on top of Mazourka Peak.

98) [Ambient driving noise] At five until three, we’re heading on down to Independence.

99) [Ambient driving noise] From Mazourka Peak you can look right down into Santa Rosa Flat. Make that Papoose Flat. It doesn’t look very far away. You can see the road that I tried to take originally, the one with the sign that it was on Indian lands. And then the road that we took to stop for lunch. That with the naked eye.

100) [Ambient driving noise] 41.6 miles from the Big Pine to Death Valley road. Hitting the pavement on Mazourka Canyon Road.

101) [Ambient driving noise] It’s also 3:53 [PM].

102) [Ambient driving noise] 46.0 [miles]. Mazourka Canyon Road and US395. Turning north into Independence.

103) [Ambient driving noise] Four minutes after four. Leaving Mairs Market and heading northbound.

104) [Ambient driving noise] 73.5 miles from the Big Pine and Death Valley road, 85.4 miles round trip from home back to home. And at 22,495, we’re back home.

Page Revised: 03/18/2009

Footnotes:

1Mitchell's book and his other books are available online and most any convenience store, retail book store and at the Interagency Center in Lone Pine, California.

2Ana is my wife.

3Our dogs are Buffy – a blond cocker spaniel mix; and Arkeline – a blond cocker spaniel.

4Mileage given from this point on, unless otherwise stated as total trip mileage, will be stated from the point of my turning off of the Big Pine to Death Valley road.

5Magruder Mountain, in Nevada, at the head of Tule Canyon. The elevation is 9,045 feet.

6Mitchell's book, on page 195, mentions a Sierra Nevada viewpoint with an old cabin. I intended to take in the view and see the cabin, but had passed the road over to that location down in Harkless Flat.

7 The railroad referred to is the abandoned narrow gauge railroad that ran through Owens Valley. Originally, the Carson & Colorado Railroad was built between Mound House, Nevada (east of Carson City between that town and Dayton, Nevada), down through western Nevada, then entered the Owens Valley and terminated at Keeler, California. The railroad was completed at Keeler in 1882 and operated as a narrow gauge railroad in the Owens Valley throughout its existence. Southern Pacific Railroad bought the line in 1900 and operated it during the rest of its existence. The line was abandoned in sections between Hawthorne, Nevada and Laws, California (northeast of Bishop, California) before World War Two, then the final section between Laws and Keeler was abandoned and scrapped in 1960.

The bypass referred to is the Tinemaha Bypass, which was necessary when the City of Los Angeles dammed the Owens River and created Tinemaha Reservoir in the 1920. The railroad built a bypass around the west side of the reservoir as the original alignment would be under water for about three miles.

8 Mount Williamson – 14,370 feet high – is located in the Sierra Nevada northwest of Lone Pine, California.

9Glass Mountain – 11, 230 feet high – is located near Mammoth Lakes in Mono County.

10 There is no Mazourka Pass marked on either the Inyo National Forest or topographic maps. Mitchell uses the term in his SUV Trails book, I also use it here and in general when describing the region.

11 The original ties on the Tacoma from the factory were B.F. Goodrich Rugged Trail T/A tires. This was before I replaced them in 2003 with B.F. Goodrich All Terrain T/A tires.

12 Graham C.'s full name is eliminated to protect his privacy, since he has no published or Internet presence. John McCulloch, on the other hand, runs a very extensive website on the historic Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad and is also featured in video documentaries. Specifically, I was referring to a 2002 trip where I took both of them to Badger Flat and Mazourka Peak via Mazourka Canyon.